Mercer International Inc. Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.08 (NASDAQ:MERC)

Mercer International Inc. (NASDAQ:MERC) (TSE:MRI.U) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 31st, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be given a dividend of 0.075 per share by the basic materials company on Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 18th.

Mercer International has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 3.4% per year over the last three years. Mercer International has a dividend payout ratio of -375.0% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Analysts expect Mercer International to earn ($0.07) per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $0.30 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of -428.6%.

Mercer International Price Performance

NASDAQ:MERC traded down $0.08 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $6.44. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 672,553 shares, compared to its average volume of 358,226. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $6.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $7.90. The company has a market capitalization of $430.65 million, a P/E ratio of -2.28 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.22, a current ratio of 3.46 and a quick ratio of 2.17. Mercer International has a twelve month low of $5.33 and a twelve month high of $11.20.

Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC) (TSE:MRI.U) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.29) by $0.03. The business had revenue of $502.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $485.84 million. Mercer International had a negative return on equity of 17.93% and a negative net margin of 9.90%. Mercer International’s revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.39) earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Mercer International will post -1.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Mercer International from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 12th. StockNews.com upgraded Mercer International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, CIBC dropped their target price on Mercer International from $10.00 to $8.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $9.38.

Insider Transactions at Mercer International

In related news, CEO Estrada Juan Carlos Bueno acquired 7,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $6.60 per share, for a total transaction of $51,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 67,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $446,259. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Estrada Juan Carlos Bueno acquired 7,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $6.60 per share, for a total transaction of $51,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 67,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $446,259. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Wolfgang Beck acquired 18,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $6.02 per share, with a total value of $111,370.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 26,263 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $158,103.26. The trade was a 200.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased 41,300 shares of company stock worth $252,650 over the last ninety days. 4.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Mercer International

Mercer International Inc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells northern bleached softwood kraft (NBSK) and northern bleached hardwood kraft (NBHK) pulp worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Pulp and Solid Wood. It manufactures, sells, and distributes pulp, electricity, and chemicals through pulp mills.